Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years

The 30th-anniversary edition of archaeologist and linguist Barber’s (emerita, Occidental Coll.; The Dancing Goddesses) seminal work on the evolution of textiles and their symbiotic relationship with women retains the original version’s vitality, methodology, and historiography while incorporating new elements as well. Barber explains that the study of ancient textiles is partly limited by fabric’s ephemerality; while needles and beads are discoverable at many archaeological sites, textiles are perishable. Archaeologists get around this by recreating ancient garments in orderto discern the process by which they were first made. Barber argues that, in the advent of textiles and fiber arts, the importance of the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture cannot be overstated. In agricultural societies, women were established in permanent abodes that were conducive to communal work, which could be done in tandem with childcare. Clothing traditions developed and became increasingly intricate. Modes of attire were initially—and in some ways remain—inherently practical; terrain, climate, and lifestyle were all key factors influencing garments’ forms. Furthermore, textile-making gave new power to women; fashioning textiles in Athenian society, for example, enabled women to generate wealth, which increased their political clout. Clothing soon became a means of indicating such markers as status and identified participants in special ceremonies, while distinctive textiles were a means of decor and could also invoke magic.